AeroStar Fuel system?

Could someone fill me in on the Aerostar fuel system? The one in
question is a 602P.

IIRC, Ted Smith designed it as a "Leave it alone and burn all the fuel
in the airplane" type system.

But wasn't there a lawsuit over one years ago?

Al G

"Al G" wrote in message
...
Could someone fill me in on the Aerostar fuel system? The one in
question is a 602P.

IIRC, Ted Smith designed it as a "Leave it alone and burn all the fuel
in the airplane" type system.

But wasn't there a lawsuit over one years ago?

There's lawsuits over EVERYTHING in the air at one time or another.
--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

On Nov 13, 4:33 pm, "Matt W. Barrow"
wrote:
"Al G" wrote in message

...

Could someone fill me in on the Aerostar fuel system? The one in
question is a 602P.

IIRC, Ted Smith designed it as a "Leave it alone and burn all the fuel
in the airplane" type system.

But wasn't there a lawsuit over one years ago?

There's lawsuits over EVERYTHING in the air at one time or another.
--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

I seem to remember, a looooong time ago, perhaps right after Piper
resumed building Aerostars that an AD came out that required separate
fuel gauges to be installed. The result was the three fuel gauges now
seen at the top and center of Aerostar panels.

Now . . . I could be completely wrong, and if I am, I hope someone
with a lot more Aerostar knowledge will add to this thread.

Take care . . .

John

Just found this . . . see http://www.planecheck.com/aerostar.htm

"The Aerostar's fuel system has been the subject of some criticism
over the years. The aircraft has three tanks - one in each wing and a
central fuselage tank mounted mid-way up behind the rear cabin
bulkhead. The system holds 165.5 gallons of useable fuel. The
intention was to use tank vents to maintain an equal level of fuel
throughout the system. As the wing tanks depleted however, fuel feed
would come from the fuselage. It is important to always have fuel in
the central tank and although the system is designed to accommodate
this, a number of accidents have followed simultaneous engine failure
caused by uneven feeding.

The number of Aerostar incidents caught the attention of the FAA who
issued an airworthiness directive mandating the use of a low fuel
warning light for the central tank. In 1979, the FAA issued a further
AD forcing owners to install a triple fuel gauge - one for each tank.
The AD also called for fuel cap inspections as it was suspected that
negative pressure was responsible for restricting fuel flow causing
premature depletion of the fuselage tank "

Take care . . .

John

"John" wrote in message
...
On Nov 13, 4:33 pm, "Matt W. Barrow"
wrote:
"Al G" wrote in message

...

Could someone fill me in on the Aerostar fuel system? The one in
question is a 602P.

IIRC, Ted Smith designed it as a "Leave it alone and burn all the
fuel
in the airplane" type system.

But wasn't there a lawsuit over one years ago?

There's lawsuits over EVERYTHING in the air at one time or another.
--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

I seem to remember, a looooong time ago, perhaps right after Piper
resumed building Aerostars that an AD came out that required separate
fuel gauges to be installed. The result was the three fuel gauges now
seen at the top and center of Aerostar panels.

Now . . . I could be completely wrong, and if I am, I hope someone
with a lot more Aerostar knowledge will add to this thread.

Take care . . .

John

Thanks, I was asking because a friend got killed in one Friday, from
apparent fuel starvation.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...13X01789&key=1

I originally thought that it would be hard to burn the thing dry on a
508nm trip. With headwinds and a short fuel load to begin with, it becomes
more plausible.

Al G

Similar situation in Super Vikings... There it has a gauge for each
tank and the gauges read the tanks in use...
The problem was that the unselected tanks would show some reading, not
having anything to do with the actual fuel in them because the gauge
was unpowered when the tank was not selected and the needles would
drift wherever they would... The pilots manual was clear on this, but
some folks can't be bothered to read...

So, guys would look at the aux tank gauges and it says 2/3 full and
they would take off... But the tanks were not near full and the
reading was spurious until the gauge was powered by selecting that
tank... More than one Super Vike bought the farm because some pilot
didn't understand his machine...


denny

Denny wrote:
Similar situation in Super Vikings... There it has a gauge for each
tank and the gauges read the tanks in use...
The problem was that the unselected tanks would show some reading, not
having anything to do with the actual fuel in them because the gauge
was unpowered when the tank was not selected and the needles would
drift wherever they would... The pilots manual was clear on this, but
some folks can't be bothered to read...

So, guys would look at the aux tank gauges and it says 2/3 full and
they would take off... But the tanks were not near full and the
reading was spurious until the gauge was powered by selecting that
tank... More than one Super Vike bought the farm because some pilot
didn't understand his machine...


denny

While I agree you should read the damn manual... How damn hard would it have
been to just power the guages all the time?

On Nov 15, 1:22 pm, "Al G" wrote:
"John" wrote in message

...





On Nov 13, 4:33 pm, "Matt W. Barrow"
wrote:
"Al G" wrote in message

...

Could someone fill me in on the Aerostar fuel system? The one in
question is a 602P.

IIRC, Ted Smith designed it as a "Leave it alone and burn all the
fuel
in the airplane" type system.

But wasn't there a lawsuit over one years ago?

There's lawsuits over EVERYTHING in the air at one time or another.
--
Matt Barrow
Performance Homes, LLC.
Cheyenne, WY

I seem to remember, a looooong time ago, perhaps right after Piper
resumed building Aerostars that an AD came out that required separate
fuel gauges to be installed. The result was the three fuel gauges now
seen at the top and center of Aerostar panels.

Now . . . I could be completely wrong, and if I am, I hope someone
with a lot more Aerostar knowledge will add to this thread.

Take care . . .

John

Thanks, I was asking because a friend got killed in one Friday, from
apparent fuel starvation.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...13X01789&key=1

I originally thought that it would be hard to burn the thing dry on a
508nm trip. With headwinds and a short fuel load to begin with, it becomes
more plausible.

Al G- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Al,

For your friend's family, along with you and his or her other friends,
my heartfelt condolences.

Take care . . .

John

Denny wrote:
Similar situation in Super Vikings... There it has a gauge for each
tank and the gauges read the tanks in use...
The problem was that the unselected tanks would show some reading, not
having anything to do with the actual fuel in them because the gauge
was unpowered when the tank was not selected and the needles would
drift wherever they would... The pilots manual was clear on this, but
some folks can't be bothered to read...

So, guys would look at the aux tank gauges and it says 2/3 full and
they would take off... But the tanks were not near full and the
reading was spurious until the gauge was powered by selecting that
tank... More than one Super Vike bought the farm because some pilot
didn't understand his machine...


denny

What ever happened to eyeballing the fuel during preflight?

On Nov 16, 1:49 pm, Ray Andraka wrote:
Denny wrote:
Similar situation in Super Vikings... There it has a gauge for each
tank and the gauges read the tanks in use...
The problem was that the unselected tanks would show some reading, not
having anything to do with the actual fuel in them because the gauge
was unpowered when the tank was not selected and the needles would
drift wherever they would... The pilots manual was clear on this, but
some folks can't be bothered to read...

So, guys would look at the aux tank gauges and it says 2/3 full and
they would take off... But the tanks were not near full and the
reading was spurious until the gauge was powered by selecting that
tank... More than one Super Vike bought the farm because some pilot
didn't understand his machine...

denny

What ever happened to eyeballing the fuel during preflight?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I wonder how good of a job you can do eyeballing fuel on planes with
thin tanks. I am not saying it's not worth it, but I wonder if you
can discern a real difference by looking. It seems like it could be
hard especially on an unlevel surface. IIRC the Aerostar POH
specifically cautions against fueling on uneven surfaces.

take care . . .

John